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KL5PF Alaska

Ham Radio, Preferably from Park

06/16/2026

POTA plan for tomorrow after 1800 EST — most likely US-2389 Fort Point State Park, Maine.

Hoping to sneak in another activation and get one more park in the log before the week is done.

06/15/2026

POTA activation at US-0001 Acadia in the log!

Quick coastal activation with the IC-705 and the REZ setup on the rocks. Managed 26 QSOs across 17m, 20m, and 40m in a little over 2 hours, with some DX mixed in too.

Best part of the activation: an INSTA QSO with Chris1NY / K2GCP. Always fun when Instagram and radio collide on the air. 🤘

06/14/2026

Philly Mesh is no joke. 😅

Touched down in Philadelphia and within about 1.5 hours on the ground my node had already discovered 119 Meshtastic nodes.

Even more impressive: none of those nodes were heard via MQTT. Every single one was picked up directly over RF, which says a lot about the density and coverage of the local network.

Sent a quick message to a local node and got an immediate reply. Always cool to see a mesh that’s actively being used and not just sitting on the map.

Fairbanks is making progress, but Philly has built something seriously impressive. Keep up the great work, !

06/13/2026

As usual, waiting on batteries before completion. They’re currently somewhere on a barge between the Lower 48 and Alaska.”

The node is assembled, the firmware is loaded, the enclosure is printed, and the only thing missing is the battery making its annual migration north.

At this point, I think half my projects are:

* Ordered
* Shipped
* Arrived in Seattle
* “In transit”
* “In transit”
* “In transit”
* Finally in Alaska

06/07/2026

mail call that arrived last week.

Doing a quick test fit with the Scout while I wait for the RambleSwing® Pro to show up. The goal is to keep the camper fully functional while adding some much-needed cargo capacity for longer Alaska trips.

So far the Scout looks like it’s going to be a solid addition to the Fishhook setup.

06/06/2026

Mail call from .us 📦

Just added a Practical Comms Throw Bag & Antenna Deployment Kit to the travel kit.

For portable ops, a throw bag is one of those simple tools that makes life a lot easier—getting a line over a branch for wire antennas without turning deployment into an expedition. 🌲📡

This one will be riding along for POTA, camping trips, and whatever Alaska decides to call a “trail.”

06/04/2026

Command center in the F-350.
HF, VHF/UHF, Meshtastic, remote station access, and enough radios to confuse non-hams. 😅

The goal wasn’t overengineering… but here we are.

05/23/2026

ATAS is back alive! The generic “heavy duty” mount did not survive an Alaska winter. 😅

Next test: Midland mount to see if it can survive Fairbanks conditions. Between the cold, vibration, frost, and road grime, Alaska is basically the ultimate mobile antenna stress test. The failed spring mount definitely looks like metal fatigue + corrosion got the best of it.

At least the Yaesu ATAS-120A survived the ordeal.

05/22/2026

“Field-expedient engineering” 😂

Got the RAM Finger-Grip holder adapted for the LILYGO T-Deck CYPHER-M8K and honestly… it fits surprisingly well.
Still need to add the 1” RAM ball mount for the final truck install, but the concept works 👌

Bonus: the bigger ALFA 915 antenna clears the holder without blocking the screen or keyboard.

05/20/2026

Lunch break activities: remotely starting a print back home 😅. 3DPrinting

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